Yet another High Court (HC) bench yesterday felt embarrassed to hear BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's writ petition challenging the legality of the government decision to cancel allotment of her cantonment residence.

Dr Wazed Miah, an internationally renowned nuclear scientist and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's husband, was laid to eternal rest yesterday at his family graveyard at Fatehpur of Pirganj upazila in Rangpur at about 3:00pm.

Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has failed to take any effective measures to prevent random installation of advertising hoardings, mostly illegal, posing serious risk to city dwellers, especially during storm.

The government probe committee formed to investigate BDR rebellion and massacre of army officers at Pilkhana BDR headquarters may take a few more days to submit its report, the deadline for which expires today.

Former foreign minister M Morshed Khan was sent to jail after he surrendered before a Dhaka court yesterday in connection with a graft case in which he was sentenced to 13 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) in absentia.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized chemicals and other materials used for making bombs, and leaflets of Hijbut Tawhid from Jameya Arabia Khwaja Moeenuddin Madrasa compound in the city yesterday afternoon.

A mortar shell hit a mosque in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday, killing at least 14 people and raising to 39 the death toll from fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces that flared up on Thursday.

Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav Sunday asked the interim parliament to hold an election to choose a new prime minister after the nation's major parties failed to meet his Saturday deadline for stitching up a consensus coalition.The presidential office said Yadav sent a letter Sunday to the parliament secretariat, asking it to ready for the election of a new prime minister through simple majority.

Editorial

IT can only be termed as apathy on the part of the implementing agencies, and by implication, the ministry concerned that a 35-million dollar donor-funded project has not quite got off the ground. This appears even more disconcerting when one considers that the fund is to do with a project for the welfare of the disabled and for the disadvantaged children.

WE mourn the passing away of Dr. MA Wazed Miah. In his death, the country has lost not only a man of remarkable integrity but also a scientist of national as well as international repute. It is these two attributes which in his lifetime created for him the good reputation that in his death endures. Noted for his academic and intellectual brilliance, Wazed Mia perhaps could have gone further than he did as a scientist. But the kind of man he was, maybe he did not quite feel that way about himself. The self-effacing about him was all.

BANGLADESH was born poor and, today, after almost four decades of its sovereign existence, poverty lashes at the vast multitude of our population with full fury. It is not that the people at the helm have, at any point of time, been oblivious of the problem. Rather, the leaders have been copious in their promises and pledges to deal with the menace at all costs. Economists and experts burnt late night candles to measure the depth and dimension of poverty with all earnestness.

THE protracted enquiries must throw light on the BDR tragedy, as the gruesome murders of more than 58 army officers at BDR headquarters on February 25 came as a bolt from the blue, dealing a body blow to our armed forces. The ongoing enquiries will be soon concluded, but the lingering trauma and shock from the worst ever tragedy will haunt us for long.

THE government is supposed to announce a new pay scale soon. Speculations based on the proposed recommendations of the Pay Commission thus abound, leaving some in an upbeat mood. The highest proposed basic, Tk.45,000, at least sounds good for the higher officials in the state service. However, the lowest proposed basic, Tk.4,000, is strikingly low in comparison.

Sports

Chamara Kapugedera's blitzkrieg and yet another captain's knock from Nafis Iqbal gave Chittagong Brothers Union the glamorous first-ever Habib Group Port-City Cricket League Twenty20 tournament title here at the MA Aziz Stadium yesterday. They defeated Dhaka Sports Club by six wickets in front of a full house 40,000-crowd with some fans sitting close to the boundary rope giving it a theatre feel.

Mahela Udawatte struck a well-composed century to guide Sri Lanka Development side to a comfortable position against GP-BCB National Cricket Academy on the first day of the second four-day match at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday.

Delhi Daredevils showed why they are one of the tournament favourites as they destroyed the hapless Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets in the IPL at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg yesterday.

England added batsman Ian Bell and left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom to their squad on Sunday as they named a 13-man party for the second Test against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street starting Thursday.

Sohail Tanvir, the left-arm fast bowler, has said he and other Pakistan players will go to South Africa to discuss their Indian Premier League (IPL) suspension with tournament chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi.

Shahrukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders may be struggling at the bottom in the second season of Indian Premier League (IPL), but in terms of brand value it is the richest team of the 20Twenty cricket tournament, whose collective valuation has been now pegged at two billion dollars.

Production of betel leaf in southern districts slid to almost one third in the last few years mainly because of a lack of government support, marketing facilities and bank loans, increased prices of agro inputs and unfavourable weather.

The economies of Middle East oil exporters are likely to suffer from a possible prolonged global recession as demand for the region's main export wanes, the International Monetary Fund warned on Sunday.

The cruise Zenaiva Cervantes booked was to stop in sun-drenched beach cities on the Mexican Riviera. The cruise she took? That landed her in Seattle, where she pulled her arms tightly to her chest as she debarked on a damp, 50-degree morning.

The economies of Middle East oil exporters are likely to suffer from a possible prolonged global recession as demand for the region's main export wanes, the International Monetary Fund warned on Sunday.

While confirmed human cases of swine flu have not been found on the mainland so far, the business community here is preparing for the worst and introducing precautions against the potential outbreak of the disease.

In the report headlined "Footwear exports buoyant", published yesterday, it was inadvertently mentioned that EPB data showed around 22 percent drop in footwear and a 72 percent decline in bag exports up to February in the current financial year. Actually, the exports of the two items increased 22 percent and 72 percent respectively. We regret the mistake.

Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who attended the swearing-in ceremony of the 4th president of South Africa on Saturday as representative of the president of Bangladesh, met with the new President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma.

Prevalence of acid violence has declined compared to the first quarter of the previous year because of pro-active role of different non-government organisations, the media and the government, according to Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF).

Prime Minister's Adviser HT Imam yesterday said debates centring the government decision to withdraw the appeal against the High Court verdict on fifth amendment to the constitution are unnecessary because the government has all rights to do so.

Awami League has taken up three-day programmes, including hoisting of black flags at party offices, doa and milad mahfils and a memorial meeting, to mourn the death of nuclear scientist Dr MA Wazed Miah, husband of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

A petition case was filed with chief Judicial Magistrate's Court, Natore, yesterday against seven alleged collaborators of Pakistani occupation forces for killing three people at Laxmipur village under Natore Sadar upazila in 1971.

A young artiste of Shatadal Goshti, a cultural organisation in Netrakona and student of class nine was killed in wall collapse Saturday night. Son of Mukul Mia in Kazi Road area, Samrat Mia, 14, was walking by the side of the wall of Jahanara Memorial Girls High School at night when the dilapidated wall collapsed on him injuring him seriously. Samrat was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where he died in early morning yesterday.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet) unit yesterday expelled activist Nafis Hossain Khan for his anti-organisational activities on the campus. A leader of BCL Ruet unit told The Daily Star that Nafis was expelled for creating chaos on campus. On Saturday night Nafis was allegedly taking preparation for armed attack on members of a BCL faction at Shaheed Salim Hall. Police later raided the hall and arrested eight students including Nafis. BCL leader Nazmul said Nafis earlier made similar attacks and was involved in various criminal activities including extortion and snatching.

A theatre group in Cox's Bazar is staging a street drama titled “Kuruku” at Ukhia and Teknaf with a view to raise awareness about bird flu. The 45-minute play that started on May 1 was staged at Nilabazar bus station, Shapla Chattar, Lamarbazar, Noyapara Bazar yesterday. Written in local accent, the play is directed and produced under the supervision of Asiatic Marketing Communication Ltd. The play will be staged at different spots of the two upazilas till May 15.

A shopkeeper at a brothel in Patuakhali town was beaten to death on Saturday night by a gang of miscreants. Police arrested Jalil, 30, of Lawkahti village immediately after the incident on charge of involvement in the murder. Police and family sources said, 5-7 members of the gang called out Shamim, 30, from his residence at the brothel and took him to Pural hospital road. At a stage of beating they hit him there with brick injuring Shamim seriously. He was admitted to Patuakhali General Hospital at about 8pm where he died at about 9pm.

Letters

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan's team Kolkata Knight Riders was undoubtedly the hugely promoted team of this year's IPL. After the drubbing of the last year, some people thought that this year Kolkata Knight Riders would be perish the same way, because even before the start of the tournament, the team engaged itself in a big controversy as coach John Buchanon wanted to introduce the multi-captain theory in cricket. Moreover, the unfair treatment meted out to Saurav Ganguly raised many eyebrows and there was no team unity and team spirit visible under the captaincy of Macculum. Nevertheless, the hype and support for Kolkata Knight Riders is understandable and people of Bangladesh also joined in the Knight Riders (KKR) because of the inclusion of Mashrafee Mortaza. But all our hopes and expectations were simply shattered because even after losing match after match, the team management of KKR didn't bother to include Mashrafee in the final eleven. They bought Mashrafee at an unbelievable price of 6 million dollars and Mashrafee is also at the pick of his form. So the reason why they are not including Mashrafee in the playing eleven is indeed unclear. The bad treatment which our players like Ashraful and Mashrafee got from this year's IPL was unexpected and disappointing, to say the least.

Trafficking is a serious crime and embodies many facets of human rights abuses. Thousands of women and children are caught up in these criminal activities every year, causing them great harm. Over recent years much has been written about the dynamics of trafficking, and many ambitious and well-intentioned statements of commitment to combating trafficking have been made in the international forums. But there is still a big gap between the cup and the lip. Many countries are still lagging behind with regard to ensuring safety and security of their children and women. Bangladesh is not an exception to this. Criminals use Bangladesh as a source of women and child trafficking. As an over-populated country, with a lot of people living below poverty line, it is easy for the human traffickers to lure poor, helpless child and women out of the country with the promise of better lives, work and future. But as we know, the promises end up in gruelling torture and sub-human work environment and in some cases death. To stop the crime, the government of Bangladesh is committed to making a difference in the lives of women and children vulnerable to trafficking and this commitment is reflected in its various initiatives such as enacting laws suiting the needs of time, setting up high powered one stop crisis centre and multi-level monitoring cell and special courts for trying cases of such offences. Vigilance has been reinforced in the international airports and seaports of the country. People have been sensitised through campaigns, seminars and symposium all over the country. Yet, much more has to be done to ensure the safety of women and children.

May 8 was the 148th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Throughout the country, several cultural functions were held. This shows that Tagore has become a truly iconic figure in our national life. He is the symbol of humanity. His popularity is not confined within the boundaries of a country. He served humanity.

Shortage of fresh water has made people of Gopalgonj vulnerable. The Modhumoti river which has dried up and important canals like Panchuria, Bedgram, Khatra, Boiragi, Char Sonakur are full of water-hyacinths which threaten the livelihood of people. People of the town are very much dependent on natural water, but still the authorities could not start removing the water-hyacinths from the dead Modhumoti and the canals.

This is an opportune moment to consider Proportional Representation (PR) for our voting system discarding the constituency based first- past-the-post system for parliament seats. Voting would be so much easier as it would be only for a party rather than a constituency member for a particular constituency. It would also be easy to allow non-resident Bangladeshis to vote from abroad in the embassies.

Recently, an interesting report published in the DS caught my attention. It was regarding the Chhatra League's installation of a sculpture of Bangabandhu by removing a 31-year old sculpture made by a freedom fighter at a hall of DU. I also found it disturbing that one of the Chhatra League activists has stated that Bangabandhu's sculpture deserves to be on that spot because Bangabandhu is a great leader, whereas the deposed sculpture of a former female student merely represented the emotion of the artist. Regrettably, these people don't understand that every great leader becomes 'distinguished' in people's heart by respecting the simple emotions and sentiments of the people. We the people make great leaders out of ordinary individuals by inspiring their visions and they in turn must give us enlightening directions. Bangabandhu couldn't become a great leader without the admiration of the valiant Bengalis. As a result, great leaders and their followers should always be generous and self-sacrificing. Unlike greedy dictators, great leaders do not install gigantic sculptures of themselves throughout the country. Instead, they work for the people without any bias or self-interest. That's what makes them even greater. Great leaders respect general people's sentiments and their followers should also strive to uphold the luminous examples set by them. Lamentably, many people in our country fail to grasp these simple facts. In our country, when a political party comes to power it doesn't only politicise the entire administration but it also strives to restructure people's sentiments. In Bangladesh, the ruling political party is often keen to rename many central institutions. However, it usually does little to make them more efficient. Consequently, even though these institutions bear the name of an iconic leader, they fail to honour the greatness of the name. Similarly, the ruling party is generally more eager to hang photos of its eminent leaders in government offices than ensuring tangible changes for the general masses. The ruling party even endeavours to conquer our inner world by rewriting textbooks and by distorting the nation's history. These are certainly not the characteristics of a liberal democracy. These are rather the totalitarian traits that characterize our political parties and their activists. Our political parties must understand the fact that no one is greater in a democracy than the people themselves. Coming back to the sculpture issue, I believe that the CL activists should have been circumspect enough to respect the sentiment of the local residents and the freedom fighter artist of the deposed sculpture. People generally do not like drastic changes, especially if the changes are forcefully imposed upon them. Human heart is mysterious and often the simplest feeling can occupy a very special place in its realm. Every single emotion has its own space in human heart and it's not wise for political parties to disturb that order.

In most countries, sex trade or exchanging money for sex is legal. Prostitution or sexual gratification for money is perhaps the world's oldest known trade. It is illegal in only a few countries in the world. The reason it is legal is the general attitude that prostitution does no harm, has no victims, and is sex among consenting adults. The changing face of the murky trade has now broadened to include street prostitution, residence sex work, brothel sex work, hotel sex work, call-girl, club sex dance, massage parlour, sex tourism, sex pornography and child sex.

After a brief lull, the call for the total ban on rickshaws is once again being resurrected, this time in DS of 20 March by a resident of Uttara. May I therefore, for his education, repeat the actual facts, why this is not possible.

A recent news report in Al-jazeera's website caught my attention. It read “Kenyan landowner guilty of shooting” (www.aljazeeran.net/ english). The report was about a wealthy and powerful white man---Thomas Cholmondeley who has been convicted by a court for shooting dead a black man , whom he suspected to be a poacher, trespassing on his Rift Valley ranch.

The insecurity of the parents is rising in the urban as well as the rural areas, even though in most cases it perhaps is not identified as an issue to be addressed with seriousness. I am talking about the 'parenting issue' that includes the struggle of the cultural transition and its ill outcome (due to open media, unawareness, national policies etc.); the struggle of the youth getting hooked to addictive substances and behaviour and the struggle of the 'home' unable to produce productive values in the young minds.

As education is thought to be the yardstick of development, great importance should be given to this sector. And it should have been given in the past. But it wasn't. As a result, after 38 years of liberation our country is still backward in all aspects. And if it is not done in near future, our country will never reach the zenith of development. Besides, it is known to all that the more the nation is educated, the more it prospers. Each and every citizen of a country expects a prosperous life. So, if we want to stand upright among the nations of the world as a developed one, there is no alternative to education. But it is a matter of great regret that no specific education policy has been framed so far.

Nowadays I laugh a lot when I see the activities of BNP leaders. They organise processions and meetings where they blatantly blame the present AL government for their failure to provide adequate water supply, electricity and gas to the people. GOD! Give me a break. Aren't these the same group of people who were in power for five years from 2001 to 2006? Aren't these the same old politicians who ruled the country without meeting any of the people's demands?

With Pakistan's "Jihadi Frankenstein monster" forcing its army to remain focused on India, a retired CIA expert on South Asia has warned of a serious risk of another Mumbai-style attack on the country.

The Sri Lankan police have been ordered to protect the belongings of thousands of war-displaced civilians who escaped fighting between the troops and Tamil Tigers in the island's north and are now housed in refugee camps, a media report said here Sunday.

The number of swine flu-related deaths outside of Mexico rose after the US reported its third fatality and Costa Rica its first, but both men also suffered from complicating illnesses, health officials said.

The secular party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has scored a victory in Indonesia's parliamentary elections, but will likely be forced to govern with several Islamic parties after a political feud with his main coalition partner.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani Saturday termed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as the 'mother of all ills' and assured voters that the construction of a grand Ram temple at Ayodhya was still on his party's agenda.

Expressing anguish over the plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said here Sunday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) would work to secure equal status and equal rights for them.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary (on May 12) of Acid Survivors' Foundation (ASF), the organisation is collaborating with Purple, a monthly English magazine, and holding a painting exhibition, says a press release. Proceeds from the exhibition, featuring artworks by celebrities, will go to ASF funds.

Africa unite;'Cause we're moving right out of Babylon,And we're going to our Father's land.How good and how pleasant it would be before God and man,To see the unification of all Africans. -- Bob Marley

Painter Pranesh Mondol, a student of Government Art College (at present Faculty of Fine Arts), passed away on April 30 at Amri Hospital of West Bengal, India. He was 68. He was suffering from old age complications.

OP-ED

TO promote good governance a strong, responsible opposition is a must. This ensures the proper surveillance of the government's policy-making and operational processes, which keeps the government on the right track.

PRESIDENT Obama's speech on completing his fist 100 days in office had things that were reassuring and also things that were alarming from the viewpoint of Pakistan's government. It came shortly before the Pakistan president was to attend a trilateral conference on "Af-Pak" matters in Washington. Obama could be said to have laid an uneven playing field for the Pakistan government.

POLITICAL parties in India have proved beyond doubt in this Lok Sabha election that their primary objective has been to attain power. They have adopted the most unbecoming methods to try to increase their number without any sense of guilt. They pushed out issues and replaced them with personal attacks and whatever else suited. The polity has remained fragmented as the idea of India has become more distant.